How Blessed
by Lyllithe
Summary: He never saw his existence as a cursed one. The years without her are long, but the image of piercing red eyes gives him the strength to endure.


**How Blessed**

Before Haji found her in Okinawa, he spent a handful of years wandering the streets of Tokyo. Alone, he found solace in the bustling crowds of the day. He spent hours staring at the glittering lights that illuminated the night sky, igniting the horizon in a dazzle of multicolour. He found solace in sitting on park benches and having people pass him by. Like food and sleep, human company became an aspect of life no longer required for survival. There was only one other being he wished to be with, but there were still many years left before her bright red eyes would pierce him again.

Contemplating on a park bench became one of his habits, and during his days he began to look forward to the time spent daydreaming. His solitude did not change – until of course, it did.

A young woman with black hair and wide brown eyes peered sideways at his stoic visage. He did not change his expression while she examined him.

"Why do you always come and just sit here?"

Grey eyes slanted her way, but he said nothing.

She inched slightly closer on the bench but kept enough polite distance. "I see you here a lot," she continued, "but all you do is sit here and do nothing. You just watch people."

She fidgeted slightly at his continued silence, but pressed forward bravely. "Sorry, I'm just… curious. You don't look like you're from Tokyo."

The girl couldn't tell if he was indifferent or bothered by her presence, but decided to take the liberty of interpreting his nod as encouragement to keep talking. "I'm not from here either, actually. I moved here a few years ago and lived with my boyfriend, but he doesn't live here anymore." She paused, and silence reigned between the two for a minute. "We used to come to this park a lot too. It's nice, isn't it?"

Haji gave a small nod, and the girl smiled faintly.

"Anyway, I'll stop pestering. It was nice talking with you," she finished before she stood up and walked away. He glanced after her, unsure of whether what just took place truly constituted two-way dialogue.

The next day, she came back, with her rapid-fire questions.

"What is that thing you carry?" She asked, pointing at the cello case. "Is it a suitcase? Actually, it's kind of big for a suitcase. Is it an instrument? It looks about the size of a double bass. I heard those are pretty big."

He didn't bother correcting her.

"You know," the girl said wistfully, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear, "my boyfriend used to play an instrument – guitar. He would play for me a lot. I've never been musically gifted."

Neither was he, Haji thought, but then again, he'd had the benefit of almost a century of practice.

"Sometimes, I'd make _obentou_ and we would come here and sit and he would play guitar and I would read. It was really nice in spring, especially when the trees were in bloom." It was summer now, and no delicate pink flowers filled the branches above them. Haji glanced at the girl. Her voice took a slightly strained, wistful tone. "I really miss those times, you know?"

They sat in comfortable silence for a while. When the sun began to tinge the sky pink, she excused herself, leaving Haji alone once more.

On the third day, she came again. Haji noted her black dress as she stood before him. She sat down beside him, and for a long time neither of them said a word.

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, the girl finally spoke. "Today…" her voice was so soft Haji could barely hear her. She cleared her throat, but when she spoke, it was raspy with emotion. "Actually, I went to see my boyfriend today."

Haji directed his gaze towards the ground and nodded once in understanding.

"We wanted to get married, even though we were both young. Neither of us had any family left, that's why we both came to Tokyo. All we had was each other." Her eyes misted over, fists clenched upon black skirts.

It was a feeling he understood well.

"There was an accident, and… he didn't make it. Sometimes, I feel like I'm just waiting for him to come home, like it didn't really happen, and maybe he just decided to take a trip to Okinawa or something. He said he was born in a bright and sunny place, and after we got married maybe—" she choked on her words. The tears were falling freely now. "—maybe, we could move to a place like that, and start our own family."

She took a deep, shuddering breath to calm herself, then chuckled weakly, the sound morose to his ears. "I'm so silly, aren't I? I'm not really sure why I'm telling you all this. You just… you seem to be very understanding." She turned to him fully.

"Do you… do you think that two people can be destined for each other?" She asked, voice tinged with a sort of desperation. "That two souls can fall in love and span time and space and find each other in the next life?"

Haji looked at the sky, pondering her question. _How __blessed_, he thought. The existence of their blood drove her to persecute and end those who represented a danger to humans, but he never saw his existence as a cursed one. It gave him the strength to endure the passage of time. Every hibernation was followed by a rebirth, and every time she woke, he would be there, ready to start another life together in a new time and place.

Haji closed his eyes and saw vermilion ones. He could feel her heartbeat, almost hear it.

"Yes," he said at last. "Yes, I do."


End file.
